I didn’t used to watch a lot of TV. That is, I didn’t have that many TV shows that I had to see each week. I had a kind of on-again, off-again relationship with Grey’s Anatomy, but it wasn’t serious.
And then came It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. And then The League. And Community. (What is it about Thursday nights?) But I was still okay. While those are all quality programs, they also don’t require a whole lot of concentration or outside contemplation.
Then, just the other week, I started watching 24. I’d seen a couple episodes before, but starting from the beginning of the season this time hooked me. And I was hooked in a sit-on-the-edge-of-my-seat, must-pay-attention-lest-I-miss-something sort of way. And I tried to catch up on past seasons by reading recaps on Wikipedia. Because I’m not that invested that I care if past surprises are spoiled. I know I won’t watch all the previous episodes, so why not just try to have a general understanding?
Enter Lost.

Now, I know that I’m way late to the game on this one. And I probably wouldn’t have gotten sucked in, except for one little thing: we caught a repeat of the season five finale the other night, complete with pop-up-video-esque explanatory subtitles. So it didn’t matter that I didn’t have all the background. It was like a crash course.
After it was over, I had to watch the pilot – just to see how it started. And really, that’s all it took.
I borrowed season one and ended up watching, oh, about six episodes last night. Six! I don’t actually have that kind of time!
Laundry needed to be folded; dishes needed to be washed; the apartment needed to be vacuumed…but Lost isn’t the kind of show I feel I can multi-task during. And that says a lot. (I consider myself an excellent multi-tasker.) I just really want to know how the story unfolds.
You’d think I’d do the same thing I did with 24. I’d go to Wiki, read some recaps, and be semi-adequately prepared for the season six premiere on Tuesday. But, somehow, I just can’t bring myself to do it. A recap wouldn’t do it justice.
Which means that I’ll be going through all 103 episodes (well, 95 left now), hour by hour, slowly but surely. Because that’s just the way it has to be done.
I estimate it’ll take about a month.
I’ll see you in March.